A look at how exam papers are supervised and administered

Who is responsible for the box of exam papers in each exam centre?


The exam superintendent is responsible for the box of exam papers that he or she receives at the beginning of an exam session. The box of papers is only kept in an exam centre if the SEC is satisfied with the level of security in the building.

If the SEC is not satisfied that a centre can provide a sufficiently secure place to keep the box of papers, it is instead kept in a local Garda station.

Exam superintendents are not allowed to superintend their own schools.

What checks must a superintendent make to ensure that the correct envelope is opened?

The superintendent checks the exam envelope. Due to recent timetable changes, both English paper one and English paper two are morning exams and are therefore in green envelopes. Superintendents were instructed to make sure they were opening the correct envelope on the correct day.

The superintendent confirms in writing that the packet of examination papers is in accordance with the examination timetable before distribution.

Finally, two candidates in each examination session are also asked to check and sign the question paper packet to confirm that it is the correct packet for the timetabled examination and that the security seals on the packet are intact until opened in their presence.

What is the contingency paper that the students will take tomorrow?

The contingency paper and the Leaving Cert paper are developed at the same time by two independent groups of experts. There is no overlap between the two development groups and neither group knows which paper will be the Leaving Cert exam and which will be the back-up paper. The only person who sees both papers is the chief examiner for that subject.

Why aren’t the contingency papers distributed to the centres along with the main examination papers?

Both papers are printed, but only one is distributed because of security reasons. The potential for error, and therefore the potential for a security breach, is deemed to be too great with two sets of papers, according to the SEC.